There are 19,566 new community cases and 930 people in hospital, the Ministry of Health revealed on Thursday.
There are also 23 people in ICU and 10 deaths, taking the total number of publicly reported COVID related deaths to 151.
Of the 10 people who died, one was from Northland, five were from Auckland, one was from the Bay of Plenty, one was from Hawke's Bay, and one was from the Hutt Valley.
One person was in their 30s, one in their 50s, three in their 70s, two in their 80s and two in their 90s. Four were women and five were men.
It comes after Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield warned the Omicron outbreak hasn't peaked yet.
"Overall across the country we are still around 20,000 cases a day, let's see what happens over the next week or so if those cases start to drop," Bloomfield told AM on Thursday.
"We've definitely had that peak in Auckland and, of course, Auckland was first out of the blocks as they have been right through the pandemic.
"We are definitely seeing the case numbers there much lower than they were a week or two ago which is good. Hospitalisations there though, as we would expect for the next week or two, are still creeping upwards but we are seeing in other areas around the country the case numbers are still going up."
What you need to know:
There were 19,566 new community COVID cases recorded on Thursday
Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (700), Auckland (4,867), Waikato (1,820), Bay of Plenty (1,265), Lakes (624), Hawke’s Bay (1,101), MidCentral (821), Whanganui (269), Taranaki (661), Tairāwhiti (385), Wairarapa (260), Capital and Coast (1,405), Hutt Valley (874), Nelson Marlborough (521), Canterbury (2,493), South Canterbury (212), Southern (1,220), West Coast (60); Unknown (8)
Number of new cases identified at the border: 25
There are 930 people in hospital, including 23 in ICU
Average age of current hospitalisations: 58
Locations of hospitalisations: total number 930: Northland: 20; North Shore: 170; Middlemore: 250; Auckland: 202; Waikato: 66; Bay of Plenty: 35; Lakes: 7; Tairāwhiti: 2, Hawke’s Bay: 23; Taranaki: 10; MidCentral: 16; Hutt Valley: 22; Capital and Coast: 43; Wairarapa: 7; Nelson Marlborough: 11; Canterbury: 30; Southern: 16.
Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (102 cases / 21%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (22 cases / 4%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (208 cases / 36%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (208 cases / 36%); unknown (41 cases / 7%)
These updates are now finished
1:40pm - The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Toi Mata Hauora says senior hospital doctors would strongly refute claims by the Director-General of Health that the health system is not in crisis.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield told AM there is not a crisis in the health system, but he admitted it is under pressure.
But ASMS Executive Director Sarah Dalton says those working on the ground would beg to differ.
"COVID hospitalisations are escalating, routine patient care is being postponed or cancelled, clerical and managerial staff are being asked to help out on the wards, and some staff are being offered special allowances to work extra shifts.
"We have emergency departments which are consistently overwhelmed, long waiting lists for specialist services and in some parts of the country patients have no access to a neurologist, dermatologist, or rheumatologist. Omicron simply underlines how unsustainable staffing shortages are," she says.
And she says there is no relief in sight for a tired and burnt-out health workforce.
"Once the Omicron surge is over there will be the long and added burden on clinical staff to catch up on the backlog of deferred operations which will take years.
"This is a health system crisis which can no longer be ignored."
1:29pm - Thornton said more unvaccinated patients are going into ICU than vaccinated but she didn't have exact figures.
1:27pm - Old says there is now enough data to show Auckland is past the peak of the Omicron outbreak.
"For Auckland, yes I am confident we are now coming off our peak. The rest of the country is a little behind us."
1:25pm - Old said vaccination doesn't necessarily stop someone getting the virus, but it does protect against severe illness and is still incredibly important.
He urged Kiwis to remain vigilant even though we have high vaccination rates.
1:17pm - Vaccination rates for all DHBs:
- Northland DHB: first dose (90.5%); second dose (88.2%); boosted (69.9%)
- Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.5%); second dose (96.3%); boosted (70.9%)
- Waikato DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (93.8%); boosted (68.6%)
- Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (93.6%); boosted (69%)
- Lakes DHB: first dose (93.8%); second dose (91.8%); boosted (69.3%)
- MidCentral DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.5%); boosted (74.7%)
- Tairāwhiti DHB: first dose (93.6%); second dose (91.1%); boosted (69.7%)
- Whanganui DHB: first dose (92.5%); second dose (90.8%); boosted (74.4%)
- Hawke’s Bay DHB: first dose (97.5%); second dose (95.7%); boosted (72.8%)
- Taranaki DHB: first dose (95%); second dose (93.4%); boosted (70.2%)
- Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.3%); boosted (75.4%)
- Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.9%); second dose (98.1%); boosted (81.4%)
- Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.9%); boosted (77.4%)
- Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (76.3%)
- West Coast DHB: first dose (93.2%); second dose (91.5%); boosted (74.2%)
- Canterbury DHB: first dose (100%); second dose (99%); boosted (75.8%)
- South Canterbury DHB: first dose (95.6%); second dose (94.4%); boosted (76.9%)
- Southern DHB: first dose (98.5%); second dose (97.3%); boosted (75.3%)
1:16pm - Cases:
Seven day rolling average of community cases: 18,650
Number of new community cases: 19,566
Number of new community cases (PCR): 534
Number of new community cases (RAT): 19,032
Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (700), Auckland (4,867), Waikato (1,820), Bay of Plenty (1,265), Lakes (624), Hawke’s Bay (1,101), MidCentral (821), Whanganui (269), Taranaki (661), Tairāwhiti (385), Wairarapa (260), Capital and Coast (1,405), Hutt Valley (874), Nelson Marlborough (521), Canterbury (2,493), South Canterbury (212), Southern (1,220), West Coast (60); Unknown (8)
Number of new cases identified at the border: 25
Number of active community cases (total): 199,645 (cases identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered)
Confirmed cases (total): 437,414
1:15pm - Hospitalisations:
Cases in hospital: total number 930: Northland: 20; North Shore: 170; Middlemore: 250; Auckland: 202; Waikato: 66; Bay of Plenty: 35; Lakes: 7; Tairāwhiti: 2, Hawke’s Bay: 23; Taranaki: 10; MidCentral: 16; Hutt Valley: 22; Capital and Coast: 43; Wairarapa: 7; Nelson Marlborough: 11; Canterbury: 30; Southern: 16.
Average age of current hospitalisations: 58
Cases in ICU or HDU: 23
Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (102 cases / 21%); partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose (22 cases / 4%); double vaccinated at least 7 days before being reported as a case (208 cases / 36%); Received booster at least 7 days before being reported as a case (208 cases / 36%); unknown (41 cases / 7%)
1:12pm - Today's deaths take the total number of publicly reported COVID related deaths to 151 and the 7-day rolling average of reported deaths to 8, the Ministry of Health says.
Of the 10 people who have died, one was from Northland, five from Auckland, one from the Bay of Plenty, one from Hawke’s Bay, and one from the Hutt Valley.
One of these people, one was in their 30s, one in their 50s, three in their 70s, two in their 80s and two in their 90s. Four were women and five were men. Demographic information for one person is not available at this stage.
1:11pm - Old said it's important for people to report negative RAT because it helps officials track how widespread testing is and gives them a clearer picture of the outbreak.
He urged everyone eligible to get a flu vaccine and make sure children are up to date with other vaccinations as we head into winter.
1:09pm - Thornton said heart disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease are some of the underlying symptoms exacerbating COVID-19 in patients.
1:08pm - Middlemore Hospital's Emergency Department Clinical Director Dr Vanessa Thornton said five wards in Middlemore are dedicated to COVID patients.
1:06pm - NRHCC's chief clinical officer Dr Andrew Old said people who have had boosters make up just 18 percent of hospitalisations from COVID.
Old said vaccination is the key for protecting yourself and vulnerable people in the community.
1:05pm - There are 19,566 new community cases of COVID and 930 people in hospital with 23 in ICU. There are also 10 deaths.
12:53pm - You can watch the livestream here or above.
12:29pm - Experts from the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) will provide an update on Auckland's COVID-19 Omicron outbreak.
NRHCC's chief clinical officer Dr Andrew Old and Middlemore Hospital's Emergency Department Clinical Director Dr Vanessa Thornton will outline the national and regional daily case numbers, hospitalisations and the importance of protecting those most at risk from 1pm. You can watch the livestream above from 12:50pm.
